


Risky Business

by alistairweekend



Series: Lyrie Aldavir [4]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Angst, Battle, Friendship, Gen, Possibly Unrequited Love, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 16:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16309070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alistairweekend/pseuds/alistairweekend
Summary: Lyrie and Cassian take on two dragons on their own. They're lucky to be alive at the end of it. Lyrie realizes some things related to her feelings towards Cassian.Rated Teen for descriptions of violence and wounds - not too gory.





	Risky Business

Lyrie and Cassian hadn’t _meant_ to fight two dragons on their own.

There had been reports of a couple of adolescent dragons, blue and white, terrorizing a battalion of the queen’s soldiers up the coast. Dragon sightings were becoming more and more common in Kiodorla, whereas only months ago they were exceedingly rare.

Queen Feylyn unsurprisingly entrusted Cassian to take care of the problem, but also sent Lyrie. It would be her first major assignment as a general... not that Lyrie particularly cared about her status. She would do what the queen asked because they were fighting for the same cause, nothing more. With any luck, they would find a clue towards the next sword shard with the dragons.

The original plan was to rendezvous with the remaining fit and able soldiers of the battalion, then hunt the dragons. Ideally, they would take them out one-by-one. That went out the window when the dragons all but attacked the merchant caravan Lyrie and Cassian were traveling with. To avoid innocent casualties, they left the wagons and had little choice but to confront the dragons right then and there.

The battlefield was a rocky area at the base of a mountain; a brand new lava field from when the top blew several months ago. Lyrie found herself ironically grateful for it, as some of the jagged formations of rock provided good cover.

Considering the one-to-one ratio of people to dragons, the fight was going fantastically. Between Cassian’s physical strength and magic and Lyrie’s agility and stealthiness, they managed to provide a challenge for the beasts. It also helped that they were young; Lyrie had no doubt they wouldn’t be able to pull this off if the dragons were at their full adult size and power.

Lyrie and Cassian took turns distracting their target while the other attacked. It wasn’t a foolproof plan -- they each took some blows from claws and tails -- but it allowed them to do damage and take cover to avoid most of the ice and lightning.

At one point, the blue dragon seemed to become frustrated at the back-and-forth. It bounded away into the expanse of dried lava out of sight. Lyrie wasn’t sure whether to be glad or twice as wary -- one less to deal with at the moment, but it was certainly watching, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Unfortunately, Lyrie only had one set of eyes, and they had to be focused on the immediate threat.

Without the blue dragon’s attacks weighing down on them, Lyrie and Cassian quickly overpowered the white dragon. Soon it was on its last legs, faltering in its movements and bleeding heavily all over.

From the front of the dragon, Cassian dealt the final blow. He ran towards the beast, veering to the side at the last second and narrowly avoiding a blast of ice as he shoved his sword into its side and dragged it along with him. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, but it got the job done.

Lyrie nodded in approval, but kept her weapon unsheathed. “It isn’t over yet,” she warned as she walked forwards, scanning the rock formations for any sign of the remaining dragon. She thought she heard something, rocks dislodging under feet in the distance, when--

“ _LYRIE!_ ” Out of the corner of her eye, Lyrie saw a blur of movement accompanying the shout. Before she could react, Cassian’s form engulfed her right side as a deafening _CRACK_ blasted through the air. Lyrie had to brace herself and close her eyes as a wave of heat and force slammed into her, but in a split-second, it was over.

She opened her eyes again just in time to see Cassian crumple before her, an acrid stench of burnt flesh hitting her nostrils. Lyrie’s heart plummeted as her eyes trailed up to see the blue dragon straight ahead, staring her down. Its face was incapable of expression, yet it seemed to mock Lyrie.

The dragon charged.

The icy pool of fear within Lyrie’s chest sharpened into rage. Without thinking, she launched herself over Cassian’s prone form and towards the dragon, meeting the beast halfway. It reared its head back and opened its mouth, ready to spit another bolt of lightning, but Lyrie raised her sword as it lunged and let the dragon do her work for her, the blade plunging into the roof of its mouth.

Lyrie’s arm exploded in pain.

She screamed right along with the dragon as electricity carved an excruciating path down her rapier and through her arm. Nearly all her senses simply stopped functioning; nothing but blinding, white-hot pain existed. Only a few seconds had passed, if not less, by the time it ceased, but it felt nothing short of an eternity to Lyrie.

All at once, everything went still and silent. As the pain receded and her senses slowly returned, she saw that the dragon was dead. It lay on its side with its mouth open, Lyrie’s rapier still embedded in the top jaw and her fingers tightly gripping the hilt.

Twisting her shoulder, she managed to wrench the sword out, but she no longer had control over her hand; the rapier clattered to the ground, still sparking. Her arm dropped to her side as dead weight, completely numb.

Everything seemed hazy. Her chest didn’t feel right. Lyrie shuffled unsteadily, turning around and catching sight of the blur that was surely Cassian laying a ways away. Lyrie’s throat tightened into a hard knot, the rage melting back into fear. “Medic,” she called hoarsely to people she knew weren’t there. “ _Medic!_ ”

She tried walking towards him, but her feet were heavy as lead. It didn’t stop her from dragging herself forward. _He can’t be gone._ Lyrie’s thoughts were jagged, disconnected, with only one idea in clear focus: _Not him too. I can’t lose him too._

Lyrie’s legs gave out with a few feet to spare. Cursing her weak body, she tried to keep Cassian in focus -- tried to see if he was awake, alive -- until her eyes rolled back into her head and her consciousness slipped.

***

_Don’t leave me--_

Lyrie lurched awake with a jolt, halfway sitting up before her breath caught in her chest with a sharp stab of pain. Gasping, she eased herself back down, taking in her surroundings as she did so.

It seemed she was in a medical tent. Likely, it was the one from the military camp they were defending from the dragons in the first place. Healers bustled from stretcher to stretcher filled with other dragon attack victims.

“General, you’re awake!” It took Lyrie a moment to realize she was being addressed; associating herself with a military rank was going to take some time. An older man, almost certainly a mage of some kind, hovered by Lyrie’s bedside and wrung his hands. “Let me help you sit up.”

Looking down at herself as the man propped her up, Lyrie realized the pain hadn’t come from her chest; her right arm was swaddled in bandages from the elbow down and held in a sling. She could see discolored dampness seeping through the cloth. A grimace tugged at the corners of her mouth.

The bandages were not limited to her arm, either; they covered her midriff, forming a makeshift shirt, but leaving her shoulders exposed. Lyrie became acutely aware of the skin on her back, the myriad of long, straight scars prickling against the open air. She shifted, pressing her back against the bed’s frame to stifle the sensation.

“I’ll need to change your dressings here,” the mage explained, and Lyrie silently allowed him to handle her arm, gritting her teeth through the intense stinging as she moved it. As the bandages were undone, Lyrie saw the marks through the blood and pus: burns zigzagged across her skin, not unlike the lightning itself that had made them.

The man prattled on about how dangerous the stunt she pulled was, but also how impressive it was that the dragons had been taken on by only two people, and how lucky they were that a squad heard the sounds of fighting and found them. Rather than watching the unpleasant business happening with her arm, Lyrie’s eyes wandered the room, examining each bed for someone in particular. _Where is he?_

“Cassian,” Lyrie croaked, her voice dry and low. The old mage stuttered over his words at her unexpected interjection. “Where’s Cassian?”

The man blinked. “General Avesomo? He’s been up for some time now. His injuries were nothing to sneeze at, but he wasn’t exposed to the electricity quite as long as you were.”

_Alive._ Lyrie let out a breath. She waited for the man to finish with her bandages before standing. The mage looked on in silent alarm, but he seemed to know any protests would be futile. Her legs wobbled ever-so-slightly. _Nothing I can’t walk off,_ she decided.

Lyrie grabbed her cloak from the bed frame, shrugging it on as she strode forward. Her posture relaxed as she felt the heavy fabric smother her scars.

She only had to go to the entrance of the tent to spot Cassian. He stood outside a few hundred feet away from the medical tent, near one of the many campfires, evidently wrapping up a conversation with another officer.

Lyrie found her pace speeding up until her gait could nearly be described as _eager_ , but she stopped short as she thought of how Cassian might receive her. She could imagine he wouldn’t be pleased with her recklessness... though she could say the same for him. Besides, she wasn’t some child running up to a friend. Lyrie traversed the rest of the distance with measured steps.

When she got close enough, Lyrie gave Cassian a once-over. His own right arm was heavily wrapped as well, though the damage seemed to be concentrated around his shoulder.

A dozen things to say ran through her mind, but something held her back from speaking as she stopped next to him. Perhaps she was waiting for him to talk first -- to berate her for throwing herself right back in danger after he had risked himself to protect her. But he simply nodded in greeting as she approached.

Silence prevailed over the desire to talk. Lyrie’s gaze trailed to the fire. Between the two of them, they had many quiet moments, neither being one for idle chat. Lyrie had always appreciated having someone she could connect to without words. This time, though... Lyrie couldn’t read him. She felt the air growing heavier around them the more time went on, until finally she grew so uncomfortable that she took a breath to speak--

“Thank you.” The two words cut Lyrie off before anything left her mouth, and her eyes widened in surprise as she processed what Cassian had just said. She took a moment, her mind backpedaling through all the ways she’d imagined the conversation would go, all suddenly proven wrong. Cassian waited, gaze steady and calm.

“I’ll... be honest; I didn’t expect you to say that,” Lyrie finally managed, her shock turning more curious.

“Well, you probably saved my life. Usually I’m the one taking blows for people. Saying thanks is the least I can do.” He shrugged with his uninjured shoulder.

“You _did_ take a blow for me.” Lyrie gestured sharply at Cassian’s bandages, overcome with incredulity at his apparent nonchalance. “I was-- I thought--” The memory of the fight resurfaced in Lyrie’s mind, bringing with it fresh waves of panic and fear that strangled her speech.

Cassian’s brow creased as he watched Lyrie struggle to keep her composure -- an unusual sight. She loathed the vulnerability she was suddenly exposing, but it was too late to hide it now.

“We’re soldiers, Lyrie. That’s what happens,” Cassian said, his voice a touch softer, lower than usual.

“I know. I know, dammit. But--” Lyrie felt the urge to cross her arms, then a stab of frustration when she realized she couldn’t. “I just don’t want you to die, okay? Is that so crazy?”

_You’re all I have left,_ her mind finished, but she stopped herself from saying it, biting the inside of her cheek instead.

Cassian let out a breath. It was more than just a sigh; somehow it was more complex, conveying sadness and anger and affection all at once. “For what it’s worth, I don’t want you to die either. But that’s just it. Are you going to stop taking risks to help me in battle?”

Lyrie pursed her lips. She knew where he was going with this, and she knew he was right, but that didn’t stop her from being upset about it. “No, of course not,” she grumbled.

“I won’t either. If we hadn’t taken our courses of action during that fight, neither of us would probably be here right now.” There was a pause before he spoke again, “We make a pretty good team.”

That drew a small smile from Lyrie. “Yeah... I guess taking on two dragons on our own is kind of impressive.”

Their conversation died out from there, and they returned to their usual melancholic silence until a nurse came by to tell Cassian his healer wanted to check up on him. Lyrie walked with him back to the infirmary tent.

“Hey,” she piped up a few steps in, eyeing Cassian’s shoulder. He looked over at her questioningly. “We match.” She used her good arm to move her cloak and show off her own bandages.

She wasn’t expecting much in the way of response from Cassian, but to her gratification it elicited a smile and a shake of his head.

Lyrie laughed for the first time in months.


End file.
